Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
AVOLA (SR) – A story of determination, talent and breaking down every physical barrier. On the stage of Avola’s Teatro Comunale Garibaldi, the 11th edition of the USSI Summer Award 2026 crowned among its most applauded figures 17-year-old Salvatore “Turi” Spampinato, a rising star of Italian paracanoe and an athlete with CUS Catania.
Spampinato, a visually impaired athlete born in 2009 and a fourth-year student at Catania’s Galileo Galilei scientific lyceum, became Italian marathon canoe champion in the junior B2 category, winning the 12-kilometre K2 event alongside teammate Lorenzo Di Grazia.
A record-breaking haul: 8 Italian titles in 2026
Having begun competitive training only in November 2023 under the expert guidance of coaches Mario Pandolfo and Maurizio Cristaldi, Turi’s sporting trajectory has been extraordinary:
- 2025 season: 4 Italian titles won in his debut year of official competition;
- 2026 season: an outstanding haul of no fewer than 8 national paracanoe titles, confirming his absolute dominance in the category.
This remarkable journey led sports journalists from the Sicilian Press Association to nominate him, a choice warmly endorsed by USSI Sicily president Gaetano Rizzo.
The emotion at Teatro Garibaldi: the award ceremony
With disarming humility, on the Avola theatre stage the young canoeist almost downplayed the extraordinary scale of his achievements: “My hope,” Salvatore Spampinato told the audience, “is simply to keep training consistently and to bring home many more titles for my club.”
His coach, Mario Pandolfo, was visibly moved: “Seeing Turi awarded alongside other great champions fills me with pride. He is getting us used to living and sharing wonderful, deep emotions.”
The award was presented to the Mount Etna athlete by Nino Randazzo (USSI national councillor) and Nadia La Malfa (USSI Palermo president), together with Giacomo Cagnes (USSI auditor) and the Municipality of Avola’s member of the municipal executive responsible for sport, Fabio Cancemi.
